This blog post is a review of the prose novel “Guardians
of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot - Steal the Galaxy!” by Dan Abnett.
Now, if you don’t know anything about the Guardians of
the Galaxy, I’ll explain now and later in my rating. The Guardians of the
Galaxy are a team of space outlaws that banded together to, well, for lack of
better phrasing, guard the galaxy from alien threats throughout the universe.
Well, in this novel, they WERE the Guardians of the Galaxy. They have disbanded.
However, this book did feature three Guardians.
First off, Rocket Raccoon looks like a raccoon, but will
not ADMIT to being a raccoon. He’s actually the result of experimentation. He
is able to talk. He likes to carry guns bigger than he is. He also has
disconcertingly humanlike hands (which popped up many times in the narrative,
so that’s why I mention this little fact).
Groot
is a flora colossi, essentially a walking tree, who can only say the words “I
am Groot,” but his inflections are how people can understand what he means.
Gamora is known as the “deadliest woman in the universe.”
She is of a very rare alien species. She likes to carry swords. She is also a
mercenary in her free time, which also applies to Rocket and Groot, which I did
not mention before but really should have. Her current client is Annhilus, the
ruler of the Negative Zone (yes, that’s a thing).
Now, let’s talk about the main narrator, Rigellian
Recorder 127. He is, essentially a robot. He is being pursued by several alien
groups, including the Kree, Xandarian Nova Corp, the Badoon, the Shi’ar, the
Universal Church of Truth, the Galadorian Space Knight Roamer, and Timely, Inc.
Rocket and Groot meet Recorder 127 in a bar, and after an intense fight,
befriend Recorder 127 and start a space adventure as all try to capture Recorder
127. Timely, Inc. is trying to obtain Recorder 127 for the mysterious Project
616.
That’s about all I can say without spoiling too much more
of the story.
Now, for the reason you’re reading up to this point: my
rating. Now, I’m the kind of guy who will not describe a book as being “good”
or “bad” in general. I offer MY OPINION of the story, and will say how I
PERSONALLY FEEL about it. After all, I might like the book and you don’t, or I
don’t like the book and you do, so I can’t generalize this book with a “good”
or “bad” claim. I am entitled to MY opinion, you are entitled to YOUR opinion,
so if you decide to read the book, me saying it was “good” or “bad” doesn’t
match up. Instead, I will use words like “I feel” or “I thought,” so we can
each have our own opinions.
Alright, for those of you who have never read one of my
reviews before, I rate the book based on three things: my aforementioned
opinion, the accessibility to casual readers, and a numeric score.
So first, my opinion. I enjoyed this novel thoroughly.
Recorder 127’s adventure with Rocket and Groot kept me going, and I found very
few moments that seemed dragged on or forced. BUT! Yes, there is a but. The
chapters were sometimes a little too short, and the ends occasionally seemed
like the narration should not have been interrupted. The divided narratives did
actually endear this book to me, especially Recorder 127’s first person,
present tense narrative, especially his constantly breaking the fourth wall
(talking directly to the reader). His phrasing such as “gentle reader” and pop
culture references gave me a connection to Recorder 127, despite him being a fictitious
character, as if he were having a direct conversation with me, almost even like
making us friends. Galadorian Space Knight Roamer’s appearances had a
tongue-in-cheek joke of being placed into the most crucial moments of the
narrative by a special device always entertained me. The pursuits of the
factions kept me reading, wondering constantly “how are Rocket, Groot and
Recorder 127 going to get away from this?” But the mystery of Project 616 was a
little too obvious to me relatively early into the narrative. The subterfuge
did actually surprise me at points, though, so there were unexpected twists and
turns in the narrative. But Timely, Inc. did have a few too many alien races
that did occasionally become difficult for me to remember who exactly was what
species, and the descriptions of the species’ appearances did not suffice, so I
sometimes didn’t know what the characters were supposed to look like (and I had
not even HEARD of some of the races, which made it even harder.
Okay, now I’ll move on to accessibility. To those who are
first-timers, accessibility is a description of the level of knowledge I felt
was desired to optimally understand the book. In my opinion, it would be easy
to pick up and understand the story. Rocket, Groot, Gamora and Recorder 127
were introduced with enough of a character description that casual fans, or
those who know nothing about the Guardians, could understand their purposes in
the story, especially since Recorder 127 was a character created for the novel
with no point of ever being portrayed in any history. However, a heavy fan like
me not knowing all the alien races may bode ill for a casual or non-fan. If you
are familiar with the characters of Rocket, Groot and Gamora from the Marvel Cinematic
Universe, that would help enhance your ease into the narrative.
Now, all said and done, my numeric score of the novel. I
rate on a scale of one through ten, one being so awful I feel like why did I
read this trash? Ten being this was so awesome I’ll read it again some time
when I have nothing else to read! In spite of all I’ve said negatively, I rate
it with an eight. I’ve established my point earlier, so I honestly don’t think
I have to say anything more on that, but if you like the Guardians and if you
are one of the three people on the planet who read prose novels for fun, I
think you should give this book a try. I’m a die-hard fan, by the way, so that
really means something as prior readers of this blog will know I am difficult
to please. And I also reviewed another Guardians of the Galaxy prose novel
prior to this (“Guardians of the Galaxy: Collect Them All” by Corinne Duyvis”)
and really came down hard on it (check it out if you have time and if you feel
like it), so the comparison is a sharp contrast.
I think I’ve kept your eyes busy long enough, so I will
now log off with my usual quote: Tim Cubbin… out!
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